Machine for operating upon shoes



m 15, 1924. 1,501,042 v 1 R. E. DUPLESSlS MACHEENE FOR OPERATING UPON SHOES Filed Jan. 24. 1921 2 Sheets-Shoat l WWW July 15.. 1924. 1501,04:

- E. DUPLESSIS V MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHOES Fi 1ed Jan. 24 1921' 2 Sheets-Sham! 2 Patented July 15, 1924.

onrrsn srarss LStlfieE PATENT QFFICE.

RENE E. DUPLESSIS, OF BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MA CHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A QORlORA'IION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING UPON SHOES.

Application filed January 24, 1921. Serial No. 439,485.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, E. DUrLnssrs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Operating upon Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines used in the manufacture of shoes, and more specifically to those machines that operate on work attached to a last. The invention provides an improved work-support which, though not limited with respect to any one particular kind of operation to be performed, has features that are specially advantageous for trimming an insole attached to a last. The invention will, therefore, be described in connection with such a machine.

A problem met in the manufacture of boots and shoes will be described so that a definite field of utility of the invention may readily be understood. One of the first steps in the manufacture of a shoe is that of attaching an insole to a last. hen this operation is performed the insoles are matched to the lasts with regard primarily to the foreparts and it usually follows that an insole that is of the same shape and size as the last throughout the forepart is wider than the last at the heel end and along the shank portion. Furthermore the insole is usually longer than the last and is attached so that the excess length projects at the heel rather than at the toe. It becomes necessary, therefore, to trim the insole around the heel-seat so that it will conform to the heel-seat of the last.

Shoe-factories are now equipped with machines for performing this trimming operation but the range of trimming has been limited to the area usually called the heelseat. In other words, it has been impossible to continue the trimming along the shank portion. Consequently when the shank portion of the insole is too wide for the last the trimming of the heel-seat has resulted in forming shoulders on the edge of the insole approximately at the breast-line. These shoulders are more or less prominent according to how much the width of the 1nsole exceeds that of the last through the shank portion. In many cases the shoulders are so prominent that they produce objectionable humps in the upper of the finished s 0e.

Attempts of one'kind or another" have been made to avoid the formation of such shoulders, which attempts have been successful only in those instances when the shank of the insole has no appreciable excess width. This invention provides an improved work-support which, when used in. conjunction with an insole heel-seat trimming.

machine, affords a practically unlimited range of operative movement of the work so that the trimming operation may begin and end as near the toe of the last as desired. In fact it would be possible to trim the entire contour of the sole if it were desired to do so. insole conforms to the outline of the last through the forepart but is wider than the last through the shank and heel-seat the trimming may extend from the point on one side of the last where the edge of the insole begins to diverge from the desired contour to the corresponding point at the opposite side of the last, and that an insole so trimmed will necessarily be free from the shoulders hereinbefore mentioned.

A feature of the invention consists in mounting a last-pin so that its axis will be constrained to remain substantially parallel to a line but so that the pin will be movable laterally as far as may be necessary in every direction. For the purpose of trimming an insole as aforesaid a work-support having the characteristic feature above mentioned may conveniently be attached to a trimming machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent 1,295,964, granted March 4, 1919 on an application of'Brown and Macleo'd. When such work-support and trimming machine are combined the axis of the last-pinwould be substantially parallel to the axis" of the trimming cutter,

and the last-pin would be laterally movable,

It is obvious, therefore, that if an 7 while the components of tangential movement permit the range of trimming to extend as far as desired longitudinally of the trated by the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents an elevation of a sole trimming machine equipped witlr av worksupport embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 represents a view of the structure indicated by line 2-2 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 represents a view' of the structure indicated by line 3-4): of Fig. 1;

I Fig. dis a sectional view through the heelpart of a last in cooperative relation to the gage'and cutter incl'uded. in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view in which the outline of a correctly trimmed insole is represented by a continuous line and in which a dotand-d ash line represents an insole a'sheretofore trimmed. Dotted lines in conjunction with the (intend-dash line define portions of excess width that could not have been trimmed heretofore but which may be trimmed in consequence of using a Work-support embodying this invention; and

F ig. 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating certain movements of the work-support by which improved results are obtained.

Although the trimming machine and cer tain features pertaining to clamping the insole against the last are more fully illus trated and described in the aforesaid Brown and Macleod Patent 1,295,964 a description thereof sufficient for. present purposes will be given. A standardor column 10 aifords bearings for a shaft 11 that carries a trimming cutter 12 and is driven at high speed by any suitable means such as a belt (not shown). A bracket 13 fastened to the column 10 holds a gage 14 in cooperative relation to the cutter, said gage having a shoulder 15 adapted tobear on the side of the last 17 and having a lip 16 arranged to lie between the insole 18 and the bottom 19 of the last as shown by Fig. 4E. The bracket 13 and the gage are provided with cooperative tongue-and-groove' connecting portions 20 that aiford adjustment of the gage along lines transverse to the-axis of the cutter, the bracket being further provided with an adjusting screw 21 by which the gage is held at the desired position. The gage is bored and tapped for the reception of this screw and the latter is provided with a knurled head 22 by which it may be turned to adjust 'lines and the dot-and-dash lines that swings with the last about the axis of the pin 25 to carrythe point of trimming progressively along the last. The frame 29 is also provided with aws for clampingthelast as in the aforesaid Brown and Macleod patent.

Heretofore the last-pini 25 and the oscillatory frame 29 have been carried by a swinging arm in such manner that they have been movable toward and from the axis of the cutter to compensate for variations in the distance between the axis of the last-pin socket 30 and various points on the side of the last where the gage-bears This motion of the last-pin has been suflicient' to trim the insole around the heel-seat as indicated by dot-and-dash line 31 in Fig. 5. The effective circle of the trimming cutter is inclicated by dotted line 32 and the location of the last-pin relatively to the insole is indicated by dotted circle 33. According to former constructions shoulders 34, 34 have been left on the insole when the latter has been relatively wide through the shank as indicated by dot-and-dash 1ines, for the reason that it has been impossible to do the trimming far enough toward the toe end to remove all the excess stock from the shank of the sole. The dotted lines 35 represent the desired outline of the insole throughthe shank portion, which it has heretofore been impossible to obtain with amachine of the type being described. The continuous outline 36 represents the position to which the work may be moved when the: machine is equipped with a work-support embodying the present invention, and also represents the desired outline obtainable in consequence thereof, said outline being identical with that represented by the dotted continuations thereof. The outline represented by continuous line 36 is obtainable as a result of compounding three motions,

viz, shifting the last-pin laterally with more.

or less amplitude through a range indicated by 37 and 38 in Fig. 6, swinging the lastabout the pin, and shifting the pin transversely of the first said shifting movement.

The compound motions of the: last-pin are:

made possible by mounting the pin on. an arm 40' arranged to swing about the axis of a floating pivot pin 41.

continued along the shank portion by shift forming- Thus when the: toepomts downwardly the trimming may being the last-pin to or toward position 38, whereas, when the toe points upwardly the shank would be trimmed by shifting the pin to or toward position 37.

The arm 40 is carried by an arm 42 which is arranged to swing about a pivot pin 43 so as to shift the last-pin toward and from the cutter in lines substantially radial with relation to the axis of the cutter. The arm 42 is preferably braced and guided by confronting portions 44 of a bracket 45, the arm being provided with flat parallel surfaces 4-6 arranged to slide on the portions 44:. The range of motion of the arm 42 is preferably limited by suitable stops one of which is afforded by a shoulder 4'7 and another by a set-screw 48. The connection between the arms 40 and 42 is preferably one that will afford a slight movement of the last-pin in the direction of its length to compensate for slight curvatures on the bottoms of the lasts and also for lasts of various depth. Accordingly the arm A0 is mounted in a yoke or fork having a pivot stem 51 journaled in a bearing in the arm 42. This connection is preferably provided with means such as a pin 52 to limit the turning of the stem 51 to a movement of about two or three degrees, or possibly a little more.

It is also desirable to balance the arm 40 so that when it is carrying its full load it will be sustained at or near its median position without effort on the part of the operative. Accordingly a sustaining spring 53 is provided. In the form shown this spring comprises a plurality of convolutions and arms 54k and 55 extending from opposite ends thereof. The extremity of the arm 5 underlies the swinging arm 40 while arm 55 is hooked on an anchoring pin 56 carried by a member 57. This member is affixed to the pin 4-1 and the latter is provided with means for maintaining it in various angular positions so as to adjust the last-pin to its median position according to the load imposed upon the arm 40. Accordingly the pin I1 is threaded at one end and is provided with a nut 58 by which the member 57 may be clamped tightly against one side of the fork 50. The other end of the pin 41 is formed to receive a wrench whereby the desired adjustment may be made when the nut 58 is loosened.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, work-supporting means including a last-pin constrained so that its axis remains substantially parallel to a line but movable laterally by the last in every direction'in a field operatively adjacent to said tool.

2. In a machine having a trimming tool movable about an axis for trimming an inwork-supporting sole attached to a last work-supporting means including a last-pin constrained so that its axis remains substantially parallel to the axis of said tool but movable laterally by the last in various directions and with various components of movement to follow the lead of the last.

3. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, means comprising two relatively movable arms one of which is carried by the other and is provided with a last-pin on which the last may turn in working relation to said tool, said arms being arranged to swing about separate axes both parallel to the axis of said lastpin.

4:. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last,

work-supporting means including a primary i carrier, a secondary carrier superposed thereon and movable relatively thereto a last-pin carried by said superposed carrier to occupy the pin-socket of the last, and

counterbalancing means arranged to keep the last-pin normally elevated, said two carriers affording components of lateral movement to said last-pin in a field adjacent to said tool such that the trimming of the edge of the insole may extend along the shank and around the heel-seat.

5. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, work-supporting means including a carrier arranged to swing about an axis, and a lastpin movable by the last and carried by said carrier so as to be laterally movable about said axis with and without components of movement toward and from said axis to follow the lead of the last in a field operatively adjacent to said tool.

6. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, work-supporting means including a carrier arranged to swing about an axis, a secondary carrier superposed on and pivotally connected to the first said carrier so as to swing about another axis with and without movement about the first said axis, and a lastpin carried by said superposed carrier so as to hold and move with the last in cooperative relation to said tool.

7 In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, work-supporting means including a last-pin movable laterally by the last so that the last may move lengthwise when one side thereof is toward said tool, said last-pin being otherwise movable so that the course of trimming may conform substantially to the contour of the bottom of the last.

8. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, a stationary pivot member, a carrier arranged to swing about the latter, a movable Ill pivot member carried by said carrier, a.

, secondary carrier arranged to swing on said movable pivot member, and alast-pin carried by said secondary carrier so as to swing about both said pivot members, said pivot members being substantially parallel and arranged to afford to said last-pin components of lateral movement substantially at right angles to each other in a fiel'd operatively adjacent to said tool.

9. In a machine having trimming tool carrier so that said last-pin may be shifted toward and from said pivot member at will. 10. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last,

work-holding means including a last-pin and means for clamping the insole against the last mounted on said pin, and two relatively movable carriers of which one is carried by the other and carries said workholding means so that the lastpin may be moved bodily by the last in every direction edgewise of the insole in a field operatively adjacent to said tool.

11. In a machine having a trimming tool for trimming an insole attached to a last, a stationary pivot-member, a carrier arranged to swing thereon, a bodily movable pivot member carried by said carrier, a secondary carrier carried by said movable pivot member, and a last-pin carried by said secondary carrier in cooperative relation to said tool, said pivot members and said lastpin being constrained so that their axes remain substantially parallel during operation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

RENE E. D'UPLESSIS. 

